After Grand Theft Auto Online received an update last month that added highly requested features in private lobbies, player numbers have been considerably up. The popularity of the title hasn't been quite up to the levels it saw during the start of the pandemic, when 200,000 concurrent players were a common occurrence. However, following the debut of the new GTA Online Criminal Enterprises for private and invite-only lobbies on July 26, players rejoiced by crowding the servers.
After the release of the patch, which also included a nerf to the most overpowered car in the game, Oppressor MK 2, the player stats for GTA Online nearly hit the peak of 200,000 players for the first time since the update in July 2021 where Rockstar offered players free money. In the new patch, in addition to the Oppressor nerf and new Criminal Enterprises, players get to enjoy new Contract Missions as well as brand-new Operation Paper Trail missions for one to four players. These Operation Paper Trail missions put players in the shoes of IAA agents that are investigating raising gas prices in San Andreas.
Much of the praise for the patch goes to the private lobby aspect of the Criminal Enterprises update. GTA Online players can now complete business activities, including Sell Missions, in private lobbies with invite-only access. This means that Oppressor MK 2 riding griefers, be it nerfed or not, are no longer able to ruin people's money runs. This was one of the most common gripes about the game's public lobby gameplay. There are other economic updates that should address the problem of making money in GTA Online as well, like increases in Race and Adversary Mode, Premium Race, and Heist payouts. Also, fees for changing gang names and fonts have been reduced.
This is clearly a major update to the free-to-roam world of San Andreas that players of some other Rockstar titles would love. The publisher seems to be still committed to releasing updates, large and small, proven by GTA Online's newest off-roader, Declasse Draugur, added to the game just this week. The game's popularity in 2022 had been waning, but the community got a spark from the update, as they usually do. While the response from gamers is not entirely positive, the numbers and posts like the one above speak for themselves. For a game closing in on ten years, the trend is surprisingly good.
Not everything is rosy, however, as the game lives off of updates that reinvigorate the older players since new blood is harder to acquire. While the list of quality of life improvements is long - and bug fixes even longer - not everything has been mended. Repetitive gameplay and pay-to-win aspects are likely not going anywhere, but hopefully these issues are addressed with Grand Theft Auto 6.
Grand Theft Auto Online is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Steam Charts